Donkey | Definition, Characteristics, & Facts (2024)

donkey, (Equus asinus), domestic ass belonging to the horse family, Equidae, and descended from the African wild ass (Equus africanus). It is known to have been used as a beast of burden since 4000 bce.

The average donkey stands 101.6 cm (40 inches) at the shoulder and weighs about 250 kg (551 pounds), but different breeds vary greatly. For example, the Sicilian donkey reaches only about 61 cm (24 inches) and weighs between 113 and 181 kg (250 and 400 pounds), while the average-sized American Mammoth Jackstock donkey is much larger, measuring about 142 cm (56 inches) and weighing 544 kg (1,200 pounds). In colour the donkey ranges from white to gray or black and usually has a dark stripe from mane to tail and a crosswise stripe on the shoulders. The mane is short and upright and the tail, with long hairs only at the end, is more cowlike than horselike. The very long ears are dark at the base and tip. Although slower than horses, donkeys are sure-footed and can carry heavy loads over rough terrain. The mule is a hybrid, the offspring of the mating of a male (jackass, or jack) donkey and a female horse. In some parts of the world where horses cannot easily survive or where extreme poverty prevents locals from owning horses, donkeys are the main beasts of burden and source of transportation.

Although the names donkey and burro are interchangeable, the term burro is widely used in the southwestern United States to describe small donkeys, burro being the word for donkey in the Spanish language. Feral donkeys, found in various parts of the world, are descendants of escaped or abandoned domestic animals. In the western United States, many authorities consider that the large population of feral burros is driving the desert bighorn sheep to extinction by competing for the limited resources of its very arid habitat. However, scientists credit these animals, along with feral horses, with digging small watering holes, which later become oases for desert plants and animals.

On tropical islands where plants evolved in the absence of large mammalian herbivores, feral donkeys pose a real threat of extinction for native plants. Efforts to remove donkeys from habitats where they are not native has generated a great deal of controversy, pitting animal rights groups against biologists and other conservation groups who see donkeys as an alien species and a threat to biodiversity conservation.